Repeated Fanning
by turbomagnus
Summary: After spending the last month being forced to repeat the same day - the day of Ember's big concert - Danny decides to try something new. DxE, 'Fanning the Flames' AU


Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 2 February.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and related characters and situations are the creations of Bruce Hartman, used without permission or intent to profit.

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"Repeated Fanning"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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He had a headache, he was emotionally wrecked and still had a good well of anger and frustration pent up, it wasn't a good start to the day. It also wasn't a surprise; he didn't seem to have many good days anymore. Sometimes, he wasn't even sure he could remember the last time he had experienced a real good day and not one where he merely allowed people to believe he was having one. He was the only one who knew he wasn't living two lives; he was living three, or was it even four?

Danny leaned against the wall and started ticking off on his fingers, 'Human, halfa, letting people think I'm the same old Fenton and the same old Phantom... Really, does that last count as one or two? All of this is driving me crazy...'

The calendar hadn't changed, but it had been a month since Danny had last enjoyed himself; if he never heard rock music after this, it would probably be too soon. Every day for the last month by his count had been the same day, starting the same way and ending each time with failing to stop Ember from placing the entire planet under mind control with her concert. He had actually reached the point where he almost didn't care anymore, let Ember take over the world, he just wanted it to stop, wanted to wake up to a new day, not the same one he had just finished and failed at. Nothing he tried worked, everything failed to stop the rock star ghost.

The first time, Ember had actually put Danny and Sam under a love spell, leaving them so distracted with each other that they hadn't even tried to stop her. Fortunately, the effects wore off when Danny woke up again that morning to find himself repeating the day for the first time which is where he failed the second time, so busy trying to convince Sam and Tucker that the day was repeating that they weren't prepared for Ember's concert and the day ended for a second time with Ember's mind control reaching across the globe.

The third time around, Danny had then tried pulling the plug on the transmission, trying to save the world even if he couldn't save Amity Park, only to discover the hard way that there were backups to prevent the transmission being lost. On the fourth time through, he attempted to bypass the concert all together by going after Ember during her performance outside Casper High. It was a good attempt, but he had underestimated her control over the students and Danny had found himself knocked unconscious only to wake up again that morning. By the fifth day, Danny went so far as to just confront Ember and ask her not to try and take over the world. The look of surprise on her face at the request was wonderful, but the laughter that followed it wasn't quite as enjoyable and neither was the ensuing fight that left him battered and trapped in his own Fenton Thermos. That was probably the only time he had actually been glad to wake up back in his own bed that morning.

It had gone on like that for the last four weeks; Danny would come up with a plan, it would turn out to be ineffective and he would wake back up that morning at the beginning of the day with everything reset except his memories; his and no one else's, not even Ember herself's. Occasionally, he would even mess things up early on just to give himself a break from the repetition, but no matter what he did, it was that morning again the next time he woke up and he was beginning to wonder if he'd ever see tomorrow. Danny did what he could to try and keep the days interesting despite being the same day. He'd used his ghost-powers to embarrass Dash; let the whole school see the look on Paulina's face when her ghost-boy crush had turned back to Danny Fenton in the middle of a kiss, discovering that she wasn't that great a kisser either in the process; one repeat he had even managed to trick Sam into eating meat and Tucker into eating tofu, something that neither had forgave him for until the day had reset; but all of those stunts had done little to lift the feeling of ennui that had begun to set in for Danny. No matter what he changed, it lasted only until the next reset, so he didn't even have time to see if there were any lasting results from his antics.

Danny shook his head, Ember really had no idea what she was doing, trying to control the entire world into being her fans and slaves. The halfa could now say from personal experience that life was no fun when you knew everything that was going to happen. What would be the point of recording a new song if you already knew it would top all the charts until you released another one? Why bother with a concert if you knew it was going to sell out?

Danny managed to quirk a smile as a thought came to him, 'It would get awful lonely for her at the top of the world like that...'

"Lonely... cold... cold and lonely," Danny commented out-loud as a series of thoughts occurred to him, "You know, I've had fun with most of the people I know during these dumb repeats, I might as well move onto the ghosts... and since Ember's gonna be in town anyway..."

Danny's smile expanded into a full-out grin.

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He played along with the usual course of events - even being taken home by the SWAT team - until after Sam kissed Dash - which, by the way, was something he never intended to let her live down if it happened on whatever reset finally got him out of these repeats. Going ghost, he went intangibly through the roof and came up behind Ember.

"Why don't save the guitar-playing for Jimi?" Danny remarked to get Ember's attention, "It doesn't matter how many people you brainwash, he's still the greatest."

Ember turned around and snarled at him, "Get this straight, dipstick! I don't do duets!"

Before she could make any adjustments to it, Danny had grabbed Ember's guitar by the neck, "How about a duo, then?"

Without waiting for an answer, Danny used the fact that the strap for Ember's guitar was over her shoulder to yank her forward and against him, sandwiching the instrument between them as one hand went to her shoulder and the other to her hip.

"Whoa, hold on," Ember said, putting her hands on his chest and trying to push herself out of Danny's embrace and just as much trying to ignore the heat he was putting off or how his chest felt under her hands, "What on Earth do you think you're doing, dipstick! I hate to break it to you, but I'm not that kind of rocker chick!"

"What's the matter, Ember?" Danny teased, moving his head so that she could feel his breath on her skin, "Don't think you could make me 'Remember' you? Rockers like you are all the same, you talk big, but when it comes down to it, you just can't stay on the charts."

"'Remember' my name?" Ember snarled as she struggled harder against the hands holding her to the halfa, "I'm gonna make you _scream _it..."

Danny raised his eyebrows and grinned, "I thought you weren't 'that kind of rocker chick', 'baby-pop'..."

If she had still had flesh and blood, Ember just knew that would have made her blush, "What's the matter, dipstick, afraid you'll lose in a straight fight?"

"Talk, talk, talk," Danny retorted, "Why don't you try something with no vocals instead?"

Then the hand on her arm slid up and around to the back of her head, holding it in place as he kissed her, causing Ember's eyes to go wide in shock. That was it, he was going to die, he was going to suffer, he was...

Ember felt a shiver go through her body as Danny's lips worked against her's...

He was a _really_ good kisser...

And she began to melt into the kiss.

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The next morning, and it surely was the next morning, Danny winced at the light that came into his darkened room as someone opened the door.

"Danny, Mom and Dad said..." Jazz stopped midsentence and took another look at what she was seeing, they were on top of the covers, they both were fully dressed, but still, "Danny... Mom! Dad! Danny's got a girl in his room!"

Ember groaned and buried her face in Danny's shoulder, "Why do I get the feeling this is gonna be the beginning of a long day, baby-pop?"

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Author's Note; Why did Puppy Bowl Sunday have to fall on Groundhog Day, huh? Did anyone even pay attention to the groundhogs? I know I really didn't...


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